Pumpkin White Chocolate Blondies

Are you guys having trouble finding canned pumpkin this season? I do a lot of cooking with pumpkin year round and have never had so much trouble! It’s almost October, shouldn’t there be stacks upon stacks of canned pumpkin in every store? Apparently there’s a real shortage of the stuff.

Anyway, this recipe showed up in my google reader last week and I knew I needed to make them immediately. Luckily I still had half a can of pumpkin leftover from my pumpkin mousse. I literally made these guys the day after I saw the recipe. They were that tempting.

And oh my gosh, they are good. Pumpkin and white chocolate is my new favorite combination and I’m already trying to come up with new ways to combine the 2. I think I’ll start with a pumpkin white mocha from Starbucks. Mmm.

They were a little cakey to be considered a blondie but hey, pumpkin cake is okay in my book too! My friend Pam did some experimenting and said that replacing the white sugar with brown and decreasing the flour by 1/4 cup helped with the chewiness. I think she’s planning on healthifying the recipe too so check her blog for that.

Pumpkin White Chocolate Blondies
from Pink Parsley, originally from Martha

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. Spray foil and sides of pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into squares.